Lawal v. Prabal Gurung, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:23-cv-04861
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Lawal v. Prabal Gurung, LLC, Judge Rochon ordered settlement discussions and a joint update, without deciding the case.
The plaintiffs, including Rafia Lawal, and Prabal Gurung, LLC.
What happened
In Lawal v. Prabal Gurung, LLC, the court ordered the plaintiffs and Prabal Gurung, LLC, to try to settle the case after the summons and complaint are served.
The parties must meet for at least one hour within 30 days, discuss whether the plaintiff has shown a legal basis to bring the case, and consider whether court-connected mediation or a settlement conference would help if they cannot settle themselves.
Within 45 days of service, the parties must jointly tell Judge Jennifer L. Rochon whether they settled or ask to proceed with mediation, a settlement conference, or an initial status conference. The order did not decide the case’s underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Lawal v. Prabal Gurung, LLC · No. 1:23-cv-04861
- Rochon
- June 16, 2023
Order
The court entered a case-management and settlement order. Within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint, the parties must meet and confer for at least one hour in a good-faith effort to settle the action.
Required Discussions
The parties must discuss whether the plaintiff has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning whether the plaintiff has a sufficient legal connection to bring the case. If the parties cannot settle on their own, they must also discuss whether additional settlement discussions through the district’s court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Joint Letter and Disposition
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether they settled. If they did not settle, the letter must request either referral to mediation or a settlement conference before a magistrate judge, while stating a preference between those options, or an initial status conference. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon did not rule on the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims or on standing; she issued these procedural requirements instead.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.